Were FE's recalled?

[fe_buster]

 :-/I own an FE 215 and in boot on top of wheel arches there ia no strenthening plates. My mother has an FE 215 that was purchased new by my grandfather just before the FC was launched and it has these plates. I was told that FE's were recalled to have this fitted and late FE's came factory fitted. Is this true? and why are they fitted? I am assuming for strength. I have had my FE since 1989. It has a strong red motor and drive train and I have givin it a hard time. I have also done a lot of heavy towing and there is no sign of it falling in half yet!  
P.S  I treat my mums car like a baby, its on its  original fiber timing gear !  

[RET]

I'm sure Ken the Guru could give us the absolute answer on this, but it's my understanding that the strengthening was added to the vehicle in production sometime in late '56, but the earlier cars were never recalled to have it fitted.  Certainly there are plenty of '56 FEs getting about today without it.

In a more general sense, I don't think the idea of Safety Recalls became prevalent in Australia until the 70s.  They were a by-product of Ralph Nader's campaign in the US re the Corvair: "Unsafe at Any Speed" and all that.  Was the HQ the first car to suffer a limited recall?  I have an idea it was - I think I read that in "Heart of the Lion" - but as always, I stand to be corrected....

cheers
RET

[mcl1959]

Richard is quite correct, the FE was never recalled.  The problem was identified soon after the release of the FE and the first fix was to fit the wider rear screen chrome to stop the rear screen from popping out.
It then became apparent that the body was flexing and sagging around the rear door area under severe conditions, so more strength was added in - about 5 places. The 2 obvious places are the panels mentioned above and the double skin on the dog leg panel.
The fix is described in detail in the service bulletins but very few cars that I have seen have ever had it done, since you had to go into GMH and complain of the problem before they would fix it for you.

I would be keen to see the ID and chassis plate details of yours and your mothers cars as this would aid my research a great deal as not too many standard sedans still exist.
You could send me a private message if this is preferable.


Ken

[fe_buster]

  Thanks for your help in clearing that up for me. Yes ken I can get thoes numbers for you when I get a chance.            FE Buster